By Brad Welborn, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State’s defense delivered one of its strongest performances of the season, but five turnovers proved too costly to overcome as the Demons fell to McNeese on Saturday at Turpin Stadium.
The Demons (0-7, 0-4) created opportunities to stay within striking distance, including a first-half lead and a pair of takeaways, but could not consistently turn those moments into points. McNeese (3-4, 2-2) capitalized on NSU’s mistakes and used four explosive plays in the third quarter to create separation.
“The story of the game is five turnovers,” head coach Blaine McCorkle said. “You take two or three of those away and it’s a whole different ballgame. Those are things you have to learn and grow from. Turnovers can be cyclical sometimes and they got us today.”
The Demons lost two fumbles on their first two possessions, but their defense responded and kept the Cowboys off the scoreboard in both cases, including getting a takeaway of its own. Joe Natali knocked the ball loose from a McNeese ball carrier, allowing Brandon Ross to recover at the NSU 29-yard line, but were unable to turn that into points.
McNeese managed to take the ensuing punt down for a field goal on a 14-play drive early in the second quarter, as the defense denied a first-and-goal at the six-yard line chance. The lead only lasted a few minutes as quarterback Zach Wilcke took the Demons right down the field for a touchdown.
Wilcke connected with Amaaz Eugene on a fourth-and-eight pass down the seam for a touchdown, giving NSU a 7-3 lead just over three minutes into the second quarter.
The Demon defense protected that advantage with two strong stands to close the half. KB Anderson-Dale delivered a punishing tackle on McNeese running back Omiri Wiggins on third down to force a punt, and Ross later intercepted a pass near the goal line for the first interception of his career.
“We’ve had our struggles on defense this year overall, but when we’ve gotten down in that low red zone area we’ve been pretty stout at times,” McCorkle said. “We do a good job working on that and practicing it. Brandon made a great play. I was hoping he was going to take it to the house, because that would have changed the game in a hurry.”
Neither takeaway immediately translated into additional points. A block-in-the-back penalty negated a 64-yard return following Ross’ interception, and the Demons were unable to capitalize on the quick-change opportunity.
McNeese then opened the second half with three consecutive scoring drives, using four plays of more than 25 yards in the third quarter to stretch its lead. A fumble by the Demons at the McNeese 10-yard line on their second possession of the half helped the Cowboys extend their advantage to 24-7, the only one of NSU’s five turnovers they converted directly into points.
Despite the growing deficit, the Demon defense continued to make plays behind the line of scrimmage. NSU recorded nine tackles for loss, its most in a game this season and its highest total since recording 10 against Houston Christian in 2022.
Blake Fann recorded two tackles for loss, including a stop behind the line against Wiggins, who entered the game as the Southland Conference’s leading rusher and finished with just 50 yards on the ground. Six different Demons recorded at least one tackle for loss.
“Our team spilled their guts out there against a really good football team,” McCorkle said. “Regardless of what the stats say, our defense did some things today they haven’t done all year and I could not be prouder of (defensive coordinator) Matt Conner and our defensive staff and the plan they put together. They were fast, physical, we had negative plays. They got us on three plays in the second half that allowed things to separate but other than that I was proud of our defense.”
The Demons continued to find explosive plays offensively, finishing with 12, including three for touchdowns. Wilcke accounted for all three NSU scores, throwing touchdown passes to Eugene and Camryn Davis while adding his first rushing touchdown of the season on a 12-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
NSU’s defense gave the offense another opportunity late in the game, recording three consecutive tackles for loss on one drive. The Demons drove deep into McNeese territory again with just over three minutes remaining, but an interception at the seven halted the scoring threat.
After forcing another Cowboy punt, Wilcke found Davis wide open for a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining. Davis’ score was his third receiving touchdown of the season, but McNeese recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the victory.
“The best way to learn how to win is to win,” McCorkle said. “That’s something that we have to figure out how to do. There’s no question we have a much improved, much better football team. We just have to keep finding those next steps.”